#apologies for the fact that this book has made me: insane

[bwabys-scenarios]

Hello first timer here, Can I request for hcs for Gojo, Nanami and Choso wherein their frail darling manages to escape but not so far because they end up getting a fever from all the stress

No Escape

!!REBLOGS APPRECIATED!!

REQUESTS: OPEN

warnings: obsessive behavior, kidnapping, delusional mindset, choso breaks your leg

taglist:

If you would like to be added to the SFW Yandere!JJK taglist, please comment a ❤️(red heart emoji). You must have your age in your bio and have a tagable/mentionable blog!

Yandere Prompt List

Gojo

-He doesn’t keep you too locked up considering you’re not very strong, even a bit frail.

-You are usually left alone in his home when he’s busy, just with the front door locked. He’s already made you well aware that no matter what you do, he’ll always find you

-Unfortunately, you’re tired of being imprisoned and want to go outside. It wasn’t your attempt to escape really, you just wanted some fresh air and time in the sun.

-You didn’t expect it to be so cold. You only had on a pair of socks and slippers, along with a tshirt and pajama pants. As you walk around, you notice how out of the way your “home” is. Even if you wanted to run to someone for help, you couldn’t. If you did happen upon someone, Gojo may just kill them for trying to help you.

-After walking for 30 minutes, you collapse in the snow from fever. It doesn’t take long once Gojo comes home for him to find you. He’s nearly distraught with worry, taking you back to his home and calling Shoko to come take a look at you.

-When you wake up, instead of a punishment or yelling, he pulls you into his arms. This is the first time you’ve seen Gojo cry. “Please… never worry me like that again. I was terrified that I lost you…”

Nanami

-Now, even despite your condition, Nanami is much more careful keeping you confined and safe. It’s almost obsessive with the way he fawns over you, making sure you’re comfortable yet also being gator you’re not very capable of escaping.

-Even though you’re treated well, being locked up is boring. One day, you decide to attempt an escape, wanting your freedom.

-You don’t get very far before you collapse, your frail body and midn too stressed to continue. When Nanami finds you, he picks you up as gently as possible and carries you home.

-for your bad behavior you’re now forced to wear a chain on your ankle when he leaves, but to nip the problem of your boredom in the bud, he allows you to watch TV and buys you new books to keep your mind occupied. Nanami isn’t evil and he knows what he’s done to you is wrong, so he tries to be understanding and keep you comfortable.

-He is more cautious and paranoid for the next few weeks though, barely leaving you home alone for more than thirty minutes. It’s not that he thinks you’ll actually have a successful escape attempt, no, he doesn’t want you to get yourself hurt from over exertion.

Choso

-You are very much infantilized by Choso. He treats you like a sickly child, trying to feed and bathe you when you’re feeling tired. He never thought you would even think of escaping his grasp. In his mind, you desperately need his care and attention to survive.

-So when he finds you collapsed in the middle of the woods a few yards away from the small cabin he put you in, let’s just say he goes full on insane with worry and stress.

-He carries you back of course, making sure your fever is down before he settles on what he’s going to do. Choso’s delusional mind has been confronted with the fact that you’re not as innocent and frail as he thought. He’ll need to take drastic measures to insure you don’t get out again.

-he has tears streaming down his face when he breaks your leg, sobbing out apologies while you scream in agony. “So sorry princess, it’s for your own good, I promise. Shh, shh, don’t cry. It won’t hurt for much longer.”

-He has always called you princess, but after breaking your leg you are treated like one more than before. He does everything for you, making sure you take your pain medicine and eat well. Choso even bathes you, and is glad to see your need to escape vanish once you’re all healed. He only has to remind you of this experience when you’re being bratty once for you to fall in line.

-Choso hates that you fear him, but he’s happy you’re more compliant now. It means you’re safe, and if he has to be the villain to maintain your safety, so be it.

[monstrousmuse]

I am not sure if anyone here has already made this connection or pointed this out (apologies if so), but while doing some research into Flatland/the 11 dimensions the other day, I discovered something pretty interesting…

…

In the ‘Book of Bill’ announcement video, as well as distorted, synthesised background music and the Morse Code (which has already been deciphered), we can also hear several lines of spoken dialogue, the first of which being the line: “some other mystic dimension”.

Timestamp: 0:04

Now, this line already raises several questions - which ‘dimension’ is being referring to here? And why is it considered to be ‘mystic(al)’? Well, we don’t have a definite answer to either of those questions just yet, but if you will humour me for a moment, I have a few suggestions. Either this ‘other mystic dimension’ could be referring to Bill’s own homeland, the Second Dimension (which would naturally be considered ‘other’, ‘mystic’ and generally unfamiliar to us, the readers), or perhaps, it is referring to the Third Dimension itself, or what is known as Spaceland (Height/Up) in Abbott’s novella. I think the latter to be far more likely, especially with what I am about to show you. This is where my excessive YouTube deep-diving habits came in useful.

…

During my research quest, I stumbled upon this video of the famous astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan (take note of this name) explaining the concept of the Fourth Dimension, as well as other Flatland-adjacent things. And lo and behold, at 4:37, what do we hear?

“And the poor Square has to say: ‘Well, I was in some other mystic dimension called Up…”

Yes, that’s right. The exact words that were used in the promo video.

To provide you some context, here Sagan is recounting the experience of A Square who, with the guidance and revelations of A Sphere, has just returned from a recent foray into the Third Dimension, and is trying to explain his sudden disappearance and newfound knowledge of Height to his friends. So saying, it is likely that the ‘other mystic dimension’ being referred to in the BoB video is in fact, the Third Dimension, since this is a book that has been written from Bill’s perspective, and it seems that he will be filling in the role of A Square in this narrative, discovering the Secrets Of The Universe and all. Although, I must emphasise that this is still just speculation on my part, based on the assumption that Bill’s backstory will be pretty similar to, if not a direct retelling of Flatland:

“Flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams.”

Who knows, Alex Hirsch may just subvert our expectations entirely.

“I liberated my dimension (…)” / “Saw his own dimension burn. Misses home and can’t return.”

…

Anyway, I have another little piece of the puzzle to share. The line spoken in the announcement video isn’t merely a word-for-word recreation of what Carl Sagan said, It is Carl Sagan. They used a direct clip from an episode of Cosmos. This has me giddy with excitement, because Carl Sagan, a man with much notoriety within the scientific community, and many achievements and accolades to his name, is known to be one of Ford’s scientific idols.

The level of detail in this show, and I guess now in its extended literary canon’s advertisement material, is insane. Do with this information what you will. Perhaps there’s a connection here that will be expounded upon in the book. Perhaps it’s just a cool reference. Even so, it is a very intriguing one nonetheless, especially with the tie-ins to Flatland, theoretical physics and Ford’s hero-worshipping. It’s clearly intentional.

…

(If anyone is interested, here is an excellent meta which provides a very detailed exploration and analysis of Ford’s respective connections to Sagan and Tesla.)

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

@chessebookgirl hope you will enjoy this🤍

Look good in anything

You two had been dating for quite a while now but still knowing that you had managed to charm Night Court’s spymaster of all people, hit you at times. It wasn’t Azriel’s intentions you questioned. He wasn’t a man to mess around. You doubted there was one bad bone inside him. It was the fact that he had chosen you out of the sea of females that flooded Velaris.

And if that wasn’t enough you also weren’t like all the other females. Mother, nothing made you feel more than a plaything than a tight dress. Not to mention that the low cuts and tight corsets had their breasts nearly spilling over. And what for? A man? So that someone could look you all over? No, thank you. And since you were the town’s assassin, you doubted that people would appreciate you climbing away with a dress on. Don’t even imagine it, you creep.

You let out a huff, dropping your book over your face as you prepare to stew in your thoughts. “Is there someone I should hunt down for you?”, your boyfriend’s low voice makes the corner of your lips turn upward as you turn to face him. Looking way too handsome in your doorframe. “Do you hunt inner demons too?”, you chirp but Azriel’s eyes don’t sparkle. Quite the opposite. He frowns a little.

“It’s nothing important”, you quickly reassure him. The last thing you want is for him to get worried. Cause a worried Azriel is the most insane form of mother hen. “I just…”, you mutter, trying to pick through your words. Azriel quickly shrugs off his shoes and a knife belt before crossing the distance between you two. “What do you think of my style?”, you mutter quietly.

“You’re asking a man who has seven black button-up shirts and leather pants”, Azriel snorts making you roll your eyes, “You have more clothes than that”, you point to the grey hoodie careless throne over the chair. “Oh, my apologies. Didn’t we count in worn lounging attire”, he smirks, fingers brushing over your jaw as he cups your face, leaning in to kiss you softly, “Hi”, he mutters after pulling away. “Hey”, you breathe out, “But seriously does it like… make you see me as less attractive”.

Azriel blinks a couple of times, “I don’t think that I’m following your train of thoughts”. You let out a frustrated sigh, “I don’t wear skirts or dresses, do I?”, you point out, “I live in pants, your baggy shirts, tunics”, you point finger after finger as you speak, “Maybe a corset over your black button up but that’s if I’m really in the mood to flatter people”. Azriel simply nods, “And?”, he mutters after a moment of silence. You fully gape at him, “Doesn’t it annoy you? Don’t you want me to look like all the females in your family? Wouldn’t you prefer if I was wearing a dress?”, your hands grip his shoulder but you don’t as much as move him as you attempt to shake him. “Well, for starters I prefer you naked”, he shrugs. “Azriel”, you hit his chest playfully. “I wasn’t finished, baby”, he catches your wrist pulling it to his lips for a quick kiss, “and two… I don’t care what you were, plus I always preferred my females in leather and boots. I landed myself a true power queen, ain’t got nothing to complain about”. You looked right into his eyes. Trying desperately to find an ounce of lies but his eyes were genuine. “Do you actually?”, your voice is barely a whisper. “Baby, you’re walking around town with my clothes. My clothes. It does primal shit to me”, Azriel whistled throwing his head back, making you giggle, “Plus, you look good in anything. The only important thing is that you are comfortable and happy with your own choices”, his palms find your face as he pulls you closer to him. “Okay”, you huffed, wrapping your arms around his torso, We should talk about that primal thing though”, you smirked, feeling Azriel’s chest rumble with laughter.

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Advice, influences and Misc.

Apologies for taking so long on some of these, admittedly I'm much more likely to entirely forget about asks that are about me and my interests 💃 Thank you for all the questions regardless! And thank you specially to everyone who just drops nice messages into my inbox out of kindness.

I'm brazillian and a native portuguese speaker!

I'll probably return to twitter eventually, but a) I hate that place and b) It didn't make much sense to me to turn it into a BG3 account out of the blue. I am considering making an Instagram or a new twitter just to have more places where people can follow in case they don't care for tumblr, but it's just been a very busy year so far and so that's kind of low on the list of priorities. If I ever do that I'll be sure to announce it here. Have a nice day yourself!

Sorry to hear that! I've gotten a few messages before about this issue, and the problem is that since I am myself not from the US, my options are also limited :( a lot of patreon alternatives don't work for me because they either don't go through paypal, take insane currency conversion fees, or just straight up block me from signing up.

Speak for yourself, I just assume everyone I speak to online has committed some sort of atrocious crime until proven otherwise. Except for me - of course. I have never done anything bad in my life.

I still have a lot to learn! But I will basically use whatever works for me at the moment, as well as make a sincere effort to learn about musculature and anatomy so I can understand those components and how they move, instead of only knowing what they look like when still - that's how you get better at drawing from memory. Volume mostly comes from coloring and understanding light, which is it's own beast but can very much be learned from similar reference materials and observing it IRL!

My favorite places to get reference are medical diagrams, weird pictures I take of myself, 3D software (often Virt-a-mate) and questionably phrased image google searches.

My favorite artists are Jason Shawn Alexander and Sean Murphy, but I'm not sure how much of it reflects in my art nowadays! I generally seek to pick up techniques from artists rather than to emulate style.

Honestly I love that you guys generally do the thing he would hate the most: take him very non-seriously LOL

I've been in a real Chelsea Wolfe and Amyl And The Sniffers kick lately! But usually you'll also find me listening to stuff like Boy Harsher, Swans, FWF, JK Flesh Lingua Ignota, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and so on. Music for the weird gays, basically.

I went insane and wrote a 23-chapter-long-and-still-ongoing fic in like four months. But also - I'm not that good, I'm just shamelessly pretentious LOL

Hm. That's a good question, but I'm not really sure. Sincerely not trying to be a edgier-than-thou here (in fact, this has made me a little self conscious at one time or another) but a lot of art that I don't mean to be horror-y in nature at all has been associated with the genre. So perhaps I don't know what I'm doing either, LOL.

I think just leaning on making things look slightly "wrong" or "ugly" on purpose is the way, but I also find that if you just seek to depict people as they are instead of idealized versions of themselves, you will arrive at that either way.

Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm guilty of having not read much at all since I was in my late teens, and the style I'm employing for ANE is very different from the things I would call "influential" for me, or even that I used to enjoy reading at all before. I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk as a youth (and, no slight to people who do like him still, but nowadays I'm not sure why I ever did. His stories don't speak to me at all anymore) as well a lot of weird experimental lit that I didn't even care to remember the name of. My last book stint from one or two years ago was composed solely of historical and medical literature, and last year I got really into Cormac Mcarthy thanks to the internet.

So, all in all, I'm absolutely all over the place LOL if you put a gun to my head and told me to list my favorite books, I'd say The Indifferent Stars Above and Blood Meridian.

(Consider the reading portion of the question to have been answered above) I really really liked Beau is Afraid and think it's a really great "horror" movie. Sue me.

[paracosmic-murdock]

gold rush ; benedict bridgerton x reader (part two)

pairing: benedict bridgerton x fem!reader

summary: after he found out the reason why you had been distancing from him, benedict decided he would do anything and everything to win you back. how unfortunate that he will not have it as easy as he firstly believed it to be.

warnings/tags: mutual pining, idiots in love, insane benedict bridgerton, married kate and anthony, platonic anthony bridgerton & reader, song: gold rush (taylor swift)

word count: 1.6K

❁ part 1 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

❁ mila's anthology (main masterlist)

It was a whole new day, but for him it wasn't.

The thought of you being in love with him and him not being able to reciprocate your feelings, therefore, you hating him, was eating Benedict alive.

And the more he thought of it, the more he realized he had given you plenty of mixed signals throughout the years. His excitement every time he saw you? Asking you to dance at least twice every single ball? Painting portraits of you each and every time he could for all the assignments that required him to paint a woman? Buying you books every week? Mixed signals here and there because a man that does not love a woman doesn't do any of the things he has done for you since you became friends.

So he made a plan to get you to forgive him so you could be friends again.

One that began with him at your home.

One that didn't include seeing you and your parents chatting with an unknown man, who was, by the way, sitting so inappropriately close to you.

As he was about to leave, your mother's eyes landed on Benedict, and she said his name as she stood up.

He saw the way you tensed under his mention, but stood up nevertheless.

"Uh…" He cleared his throat. "My apologies, I did not mean to intrude. I shall return some other time."

"Nonsense, my dear!" your mother exclaimed. "Come on in, take a seat."

Benedict gave everyone an apologetic look and sat on the chair next to you.

"Good afternoon, Benedict. We have not seen you in quite a while here," your father noted. "Why is that? You have been missed."

He chuckled slightly. "Uh, the Academy has been quite time consuming as of late. More than I had anticipated, in fact. My apologies, that is why I came, for… a keep up."

"You do not have to have a reason to come visit, Benedict," your mother said. "Right, my darling?"

You looked up, an uncomfortable grin on your face. "That is right, Benedict…" you replied. "This is, uh… Lord Vikander. Lord Vikander, this is Mr. Bridgerton, a friend of the family."

"It is nice to meet you, Mr. Bridgerton." They shook hands.

"Likewise." Benedict agreed with his lips in a fine, fake line.

"Benedict, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"My apologies, Lord Y/L/N, but I am expected at home for dinner, I… I wish to speak to Y/N in private, actually."

"Of course." He nodded, making a gesture so you would take Benedict somewhere you could speak.

You obeyed, as expected, and walked next to him to your studio.

Benedict sighed looking around. All the things with his name that used to be in your studio were dead, gone, and buried. "Where are the…?"

"Somewhere I could not see them." you replied dryly.

"Whatever did I do?" he questioned, the patience in his eyes disappeared, distress replacing it. "I- I must know because I cannot live without you in my life."

"You should start getting used to it," you murmured. "Lord Vikander and I will be engaged to be married any time soon, and I shall move to Stockholm with him as his wife."

"Excuse me, what?"

You nodded. "I overheard him telling Papa and my brother that he had sent for his Mother's ring."

"Y/N, you… you cannot just marry and leave."

"Ben, this is the cycle of the life of a woman: once we are old enough, we become a pretty trophy for a man to win over. I have postponed it long enough and now it is time… Soon I will be too old for a fine gentleman to want me, so this is my all or nothing at all."

"But you cannot marry him and move to Sweden."

"I can, I will, and I have no other choice but to either way," you answered. "And please, return to your home. There is nothing left for us to talk about… This is not appropriate, especially with Lord Vikander waiting for me."

"Since when do you care for what is appropriate when it comes to you and me?"

"Since I lost hope," you confessed, looking anywhere but at his eyes. "Now, it is best if you leave."

"Benedict!"

He downed the bottle of whiskey that wasn't meant to be drunk that way before Anthony could reach him. "Brother!"

"Benedict, what is happening to you?!"

"This, Brother, is what a man who has lost hope looks like!" he exclaimed. "You shall see me in a circus by next month."

Anthony rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"She will marry that man," he answered, and Anthony's concern grew bigger at the sight of his brother weeping. "She will marry that man, move to Sweden, and not come back. She will not come back to me, I will never see her again… And I ran out of whiskey."

"What man?" He frowned.

"A Swedish lord who seems to be in love with her."

"Swedish? You mean Lord Vikander?"

"In the flesh," Benedict confirmed. "She says she has no other choice, but she does…"

"She does not have another choice, Brother. That is the wealthiest man in Sweden, someone who can provide for her, take good care of her. He is a good man, and if you do not love her, he is the best husband she could dream of."

"Whose side are you on?"

Anthony smirked, taking the empty bottle from his brother's hand. "Hers."

"I cannot let her go. I cannot lose her."

"There is nothing you can do, Ben," he said. "She was never yours to lose to begin with."

"But she could be."

"No, Benedict," He shook his head. "You do not love her so you must let her go. Perhaps one day you will get married or simply move to your property outside of London, and what will be of her? A single woman who renounced her suitor for her friend who could not even return her feelings? Let her go."

"I cannot, Anthony, she-"

"She will be better with Niklaus, brother, just…"

"You know him?" He asked, trying to seem careless.

"Y/N's brother, Niklaus, Simon, and I were close friends back in Oxford."

"He is friends with Nathaniel?"

"He is, and I did not know Niklaus was courting her, though I saw him last night at White's."

"He did not say a word about her?"

"No, and I did not ask."

Benedict sighed. "I will not let her go."

"You must," Anthony rolled his eyes. "Now, go to your room."

"Do not treat me like a kid, Anthony."

"But you are behaving like a stubborn child who does not want to let go of a toy someone borrowed! I hope to God you do not sabotage Y/N's engagement or else."

Benedict nodded, and Anthony knew he had to keep an eye on him.

Back at the Y/L/N Manor, you were cursing him and yourself.

Even your Father, ever so clueless of anything in regards of emotions and feelings, noticed that something was wrong as soon as you returned from your private conversation with Benedict.

It was midnight now, and you were sitting on the windowsill and looking outside, the Orion constellations bringing you memories of when you and Benedict were teenagers and he used to escape from his home so late at night and you to your home. You two would look at the stars until the sunrise hid them, and look at each other until your eyes were too tired to be kept open.

Two knocks on the door killed your reminiscing.

"Are you awake, my darling?"

You recognized your Papa's voice, so you stood up and opened the door.

"I apologize for being up so late, Papa. I just cannot fall asleep."

He shook his head in amusement. "Do not apologize, just talk to me and tell me what has got you so distressed."

"It is nothing, Papa."

"Does it have to do with Lord Vikander?"

"No, everything is alright."

"Benedict?"

The mere mention of his name made you break down. His expression softened and he opened his arms to receive you in a hug.

"I love him."

Your father stroked your hair lightly. "What is the problem? You do not have to marry Lord Vikander if you do not wish to, you can marry whoever you choose."

"But Ben doesn't want to marry me, Papa… If he wanted me, we would be married by now."

"How can you be so sure, my darling?" he asked, making you look him in the eyes. "I was so in love with your mother when we were your age, but I had promised myself I would enjoy the life of a bachelor as long as I could… It took me long enough to admit to myself how much I loved your mother, but once I did, I could never forget I did. Perhaps he has not realized yet that he loves you, and perhaps he needs a little push. Tell him how you feel," he advised, cleaning your tears. "And if he doesn't feel the same way, then you will always have Lord Vikander. You can always learn how to love him, and if not, you get along very well with him. He is sensible, he respects you, he is serious about his intentions, he knows what he wants… You deserve a man like him, not one that does not love you, my darling. Listen to my words and converse with Benedict, then you will know what to do."

"Thank you, Papa."

He smiled. "You do not have to thank me for anything. Now, go to sleep."

You smiled back at him and did as he told you.

[yuriisclumsy]

Inside a Game

Last Chapter | Next Chapter

𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗈𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗅𝗒. 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 2137

Authors note: I hope you lovelies are ready for the end of ACT I! I made a whole GIF for the chapter... Yeah, not doing that again in a while.

I couldn’t believe what I had seen.

She wasn't supposed to exist, yet…somehow…she was right there.

This wasn’t making any sense. How could a character in a video game be here!?

My mind flashed with a memory, a very important memory I had forgotten that would have answered where I was.

“What do you think [Name], pretty cool right?”

“Amalia, for the last time, I don’t know what you’re showing me.” She gasped, offended that I wasn’t paying attention to her explanation.

“This is the game I was talking to you about! It came out a few months ago, and I think it’s amazing!” She said with a big smile as she switched to another character. “Look! This is Lisa. She’s a librarian!”

I looked at the screen. There stood ‘Lisa’ in the middle of a pack of monsters. She was glittered in purple, and had a witches hat.

“A librarian? Shouldn’t she not know how to fight? You know, because she’s in the library all the time? I pointed out. “And what’s with the witch get-up?” 

“Uh, well, I don’t know much about her background yet, so I couldn't tell you why she fights… As for her being a witch…don’t know that either.”

“*sight* Her name’s Lisa, right? What about this guy?” I pointed at another of her characters that were in her team. I could see that she was ecstatic that I finally got interested.

“Oh, this is Kaeya! He’s one of my supports’!” She shoved the screen in my face. She switched to another character, “This is Jean. My first 5 star character. I love her!”

“I fail to see what’s so entertaining about the game. But, because you are my friend, I’ll listen to your rants.”

“REALLY?!” I covered my left ear.

“Yeah. You’ve listened to mine, so it’s only fair I do the same. Also, don’t scream in my ear.”

“Whoops, sorry,” she gave me the happiest smile I had seen from her for a while.

Amalia used to talk to me about this game whenever she could. It was her favorite. She’d spent an ungodly amount of time “farming” materials to ascend her characters. Talked days on end about the lore of the game, and her insane theories.

How could I have forgotten something like that?

When I snapped out of that state, I was met with another screen. It was showing a quest: A One-Sided Reunion. There was not a single decline, or accept button. The only option was to continue.

Quest:

A One-Sided Reunion

[Continue]

And why do these things keep on appearing in the worst times?! I flapped my arms trying to make the screen despair. Stupid hologram! I just had a traumatic experience, and this is what you do?! AGH!

The screen was still intact after I calmed down. The continue button kept staring at me to press it. I sighed in defeat. There was no other way of leaving this space, I had to press it.

I pressed continue and everything gained motion.

“Hello? Are you alright, dearie?” the woman – that I now know to be Lisa – asked. She placed a hand on my forehead, face filled with worry. I see her appeal now.

I took her hand off of my head, placing back down for her to rest. It feels weird when I know she’s a video game character.

“I’m fine, miss,” I gave her a smile, “I just remembered something important. Sorry I made you worried…”

“Oh, please, don’t apologize. You had to take your time. Are you the one Amber told me about? The girl who has amnesia? Are you remembering some things?”

Calm down [Name]. Just lie. It’s going to hurt no one.

“Yes. I just had a memory come back to me about a friend,” it wasn’t a total lie.

“That’s good.”

“Uh, I’m sorry. Is it possible to check out this book?” I need to leave this place. The fact that I’m talking to a character in a game is making me feel dizzy.

“Yes, I can check them out for you,” she said, walking to the stairs.

Seeing her from afar, her outfit is almost identical to her in-game model. If Amalia were here, she would be all over her. She had a weird fixation with her, just like my mom.

Wait… Is she into older women??? No, can’t be. She said she wanted to marry a rich man. An image of Amalia marrying a wealthy man came into my mind.

“Are you coming?” Lisa called from the stairs.

“Ah, yes!” Leaving the thought alone, I left the seat and ran towards her.

I excited the library as fast as I could when Lisa checked out the book. If I were to stay there for one more second I would have suffocated.

Turns out that meeting characters of a game in real life is not a dream come true.

I don’t understand… I strolled the streets of the city that had welcomed me with open eyes. How did I end up inside a game to begin with? 

I looked at the sky. The colors were muddied because of the dragon, but not that dark; it was cloudy.

Most people are afraid to step outside, leaving the streets feeling lonely. One or two clerks are open, and the few brave souls that didn’t fear a mythological creature, with knights doing routine checks.

If I remember correctly, Amalia explained the game follows a set of ‘Quests’ that advance the story. This city, for example, is the first place ‘players’ spawn in; the first region of Teyvat. According to the book and Amalia, there are seven nations, with seven gods, which we will meet.

From what I know, all the gods use other names when referring to them in the story. So, what is Barbatos' other name?

Amalia said that out of all the gods, she likes this one the most. Damnit! Come on [Name], she used to say his name all the time. Remember! I hit my head with the book to juggle my memory.

“Miss, are you feeling well?”

“AH!” I flung back with my book and hit something. Opening my eyes, I see a knight looking concerned.

Oh how embarrassing…

“S-sorry… I, uhm.. Better get going!” I dashed away, leaving the knight confused.

“Looks like you scared her Raymond,” another night said.

“*sight* I don’t think I’ll understand you youngsters anytime soon,” he eyed my leaving form with a frown.

I breathed in all the air I used for my escape from the knight, with my hands on my knees keeping me up.

“Ahg… I need to stop spacing out,” my heart calmed down to an extent. I found an empty alley when I was running, so that’s where I was.

There were some cradles in the alley, so I used them to rest.

“Ah…a place to rest is what I need…” I passed my forearm to swipe the sweat of my face. I looked at the surrounding area, then to my feet. “...Am I really inside of a game?”

If I really am, I should be familiar with the events that will happen in the future. This was Amalia’s favorite game after all, she didn’t stop talking until I played it. 

“Hmm, what happens at the beginning of the game…?”

“Why did you want me to download this game again…?”

“Because I know a person with your intelligence will appreciate it! Right now, you are playing the prologue of the game,” Amalia explained.

“...What happens in the story?”

“Nu-huh. Spoilers.”

“Amalia, I’ll probably toss this game in the trash bin later. You might as well tell me while I play,” I pressed the ‘W’ key to go to the next quest.

“Fine… The prologue’s main plot is the rescue of Dvalin,” she looked at my PC’s screen from the side, relaxing in my bed.

“Dvalin?” I inquired as I slay another hilichurl.

“Yeah. He’s the big blue dragon you saw in the cut scene.”

“Why are we saving him?”

“Because he got poisoned during a fight 500 years ago that left him vulnerable enough for the Abyss to manipulate him.” 

“Sounds deep.”

“OI, don’t make fun of my baby’s backstory,” she threw one of my pillows at me.

“OW–!”

“Anyway— You are going to help Save Dvalin with Barbatos. By the way, he goes by Venti. No, I’m not explaining why. Play the game and you’ll know.”

It was short, but it could have been worse given the one explaining.

The Traveler saves Dvalin… Isn't that what they’ve been calling Sirius? Wait a second– isn't Sirius the name I picked when I started the game…!?

“AH, concentrate!” I smacked my cheeks.

I played through the prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2,  the rest was told to me by Amalia, since I dropped the game, only playing here and there. I’ve been in this world for a few months, and so far the story has proceeded like the game. If I know the events that will transpire, then I know the future, if I know the future, I can either prevent and change things. And I can save myself from getting into anything dangerous!

Good thing I rejected their invitations to go with them. If I remember, Sirius had gotten sucked up in the air, and fought Stormterror – Dvalin.

“Now that that’s resolved, I need to figure out what kind of powers I have… I’ve been able to see cutscenes… Does that mean I have a system of-sorts?”

It would make sense, given that it’s a game, I need to have a game-system-power.

There must be a main menu somewhere. Or at least something similar to it.

Do I need to say it aloud? I puffed my chest full and closed my eyes at the embarrassing thought. I had to try it if I wanted to get somewhere.

“Main menu..!” I yelled, and I lightly opened my eyes to see if it worked. But there was nothing. “Guess that didn’t work…”

“What are you doing, [Name]?”

“AH!” I flinched and backed away, placing my hand on the cradle for support but missed. “AHHH! Uf!” I screamed as I landed on my side on the floor.

“Wah! Are you okay, [Name]?” The voice loomed over my form.

I looked up, only to be met with Paimon’s worried face.

“Paimon?!” I looked to the side as Sirius came forward, also worried. “What are you two doing here?!” Weren’t they supposed to be off on a domain?

“We just came back from finishing one of the tasks given to us by the knights,” she said. “Wait, don't try to divert the attention from Paimon’s original question! What were you doing just now?”

“Oh, uh… Nothing…?” I scratch my head.

“That sounded more like a question than an answer…” she put her hands on her hip, unsatisfied with my answer.

“Hahaha–ha…” I laughed awkwardly. Did you know there were 15 tiles from the entrance of the alley to where I sat? Neither did I, until now.

“Hey! Are you going to tell us what you were doing or not!?” She stomped her feet in frustration.

I stayed still, without saying a single word.

Sirius patted her back to calm her down. “Let’s leave her alone, Paimon. She has her reasons to stay quiet,” I looked up to see him smiling at me. “Are you hungry? We came looking for you to eat with us.”

“You can’t let her go just like that!”

“Now that you mention it…yeah. I am hungry,” I said, finally feeling the hours from the last time I ate. Had I been stuck in the library that long and didn't notice?

“Hey!”

I stood up from the floor, dusting my wardrobe.

“Is this yours?” Sirius asked as he picked up a book from the ground.

“Ah, yes! It’s not damaged right? Lisa would electrocute me if I let something happen to it…” I shivered at the thought of her using her electro vision.

“You know what? Paimon is leaving and getting that Sweet Madam Amber promised Paimon since you two don’t want to talk to Paimon.” The mad fairy floated away.

I felt bad for Paimon.

“Wait Paimon!” Me and Sirius catch up to her, “I’ll buy you dessert as an apology… Will you accept it?”

Paimon huffed, and flipped her head away from me. “Hmm, Paimon will think about it.”

“Oh, come on! Fine, I’ll buy dessert for three days straight! Is that better?”

“Okay, Paimon accepts!” She gleefully forgave me after the mention of more food.

I sighted and shook my head with a smile. That’s the Paimon I know…

“Can you two hurry up? Amber has been waiting for us for a while,” Sirius pushed us to go faster.

“Ah! My Sweet Madam!”

“Alright, alright I’ll walk faster,” he walked past me and talked to Paimon on what other foods they could order.

He knew I didn't want to talk about the thing they saw, his gaze landed on me when he noticed I was looking. I gave him a small smile, he reciprocated. He is too kind… I’ll tell you once I figure it out, Sirius…

I promise…

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚜: @udretlnea, @taurus-caeli, @humongousoperatorhairdoopera, @aesir1, @creationmage, @savedpostsnotmain, @melanistium, @dontlookatmepreetyplease. Re-blog or Comment if you want to get added into the Tag section for The Divine City: Story. Back to The Divine City: Story Master-List.

Go to Arcs, a related series.

ᘻɑ𝘚Ե୧Ⲅ⧿ℓἱ𝘚Ե

[pinazee]

Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead

First of all, that is a perfect title.

Now, this episode is one of my favorites of season 2. Its so funny, its such a fun concept, and the ending is fantastic! The crime is so elaborate though its kind of insane. To summarize, this guy killed his dad by pistol whipping him down the stairs. The gun gets willed to the museum. Lassie is gung-ho about solving it because its a big name and he’s getting lots of press. This guy, who’s on the board of the museum, apparently having tried everything to get the guns except appeal to their sentiment, then decides to bribe the warehouse guy into hiding him in a snufflophagus, tilts the camera (though apparently him walking out of the coffin wasn’t caught??) so you can’t see him at the case, fails to open that same case, kills the guard, goes back for the van, apparently sees gus and shawn tailing him and books it, even though he doesn’t know who they are, crashes the van into a tree for some reason, puts the mummy in the drivers seat (lol), then runs into the forest like a madman. This guy had to have been on cocaine or something. I’d love to hear him explain to the other prisoners how he got caught.

Carlton was kind of an ass to sophie for no reason. Like i get that he thought the case was beneath him, that he was eager to return to the homicide, but considering she knew Wyles, you’d think he’d have at least treated her like a witness instead of completely disregarding her (and being pretty misogynistic)

But kudos to juliet for standing up for her. One of the things that irritated me sometimes about juliet and carlton was when they’d have her apologize for his behavior- but i love when she stands up to him. I’m not a big fan of the idea that a person can “fix” another person (its too long to explain right now), which is what i think juliet did, or at least, helped him face his own behavior throughout the series. I don’t think its fair to juliet to be placed in that position, though. It honestly feels like she’s babysitting him sometimes.

Heres a few scattered notes:

Two things: 1. How dare wardrobe make this poor woman wear these peep toe high heels. They look so uncomfortable. 2. I had to point out Shawns shirt because it made me realize that i do in fact, still find James completely huggable haha. I bet he gives amazing hugs.

Impressed by Dulé’s run here haha

James, i swear to god. He does not waste a single goddamn frame lol

The fact that gus keeps sniffing women, makes me believe his attraction to them is heavily scent based haha its so creepy.

This moment feels like the writers roasting both james and shawn simultaneously haha

This might be an unpopular take on this, but Shawn helping Karen get the job seems like a really thoughtful thing to do for her, and the way they shot the scene with her looking at him appreciatively certainly makes it look so, but if im honest, i think it had more to do with self preservation. Shawn has a good thing going. Im sure part of it was because he liked karen, shawn is a genuinely nice person, i just don’t think its the main reason. (Sidenote: i think its so cute how excited Gus is about it though)

Now for the Henry of it all.

I love how close henry came to having a nice moment with little shawn and then absolutely blowing it. I think that sums up his parenting pretty well haha like he means well, but he just sucks at it.

I think its so interesting that Maddie returning makes him so flustered. He doesn’t hold any anger or resentment towards her, he’s not biting at Shawn because he hates her, he’s nervous. He’s cleaning the house because he wants to impress her. I have to believe this is the first time she’s going to be seeing him since she ran off. Which is kind of sad because they share a kid together. They’d didn’t once have a family Christmas since then?

What i don’t understand, is how she managed to contact henry before shawn. They’re divorced. I know shawns phone broke, but is she really calling so infrequently that it never came up? Im going to discuss maddie more next season when we actually meet her. Right now she’s more myth than anything.

Which really helped make the season 2 cliffhanger so freaking potent! Its so simple, and yet the tension built up was effective as hell! I think more tv shows should take note. Too many tv cliffhangers these days feel like life or death and not enough are riding on family drama.

P.S

What do you mean that wasn’t his first time alone in a coffin?? Wha-why? Why was he in one?? What was he doing?

[halcyonfawn]

the blitz, part three

i don't usually post my thoughts on tv shows here; i tend to annoy my clueless friends with insanely long voice messages instead. but this time i thought why not so here we are.

[forgive me for my poor english in advance]

let's talk about 1941. i strongly believe this year holds a very significant meaning for aziraphale and crowley's relationship. of course, we all know that, it's like saying the earth is round, but i'm curious as to what exactly had changed their relationship during that year.

if there is going to be a third part of the blitz sequence in season 3, somehow i can see aziraphale and crowley getting heavily drunk after the magic show and all the "shades of grey" talk. a continuation of their date night which has been theorised many times already, but i can't stop thinking about the possible outcomes and how it would explain aziraphale's "you go too fast for me, crowley" later on. sure, they could've met in the middle between 1941 and 1967, we don't know that for this time being, but if they haven't, then, no doubt, something truly pivotal happend in 1941. obviously, the bullet catch trick was quite a stressful experience for both crowley and aziraphale. not to mention the fact that they were almost exposed by furfur. it'd be foolish to think they weren't terrified and even traumatized after all that'd happened. so, perhaps, that's why aziraphale's so afraid to hang out (take a step forward in their relationship?) with crowley in 1967? he's being cautious and doesn't want to take another risk? or did something else happen during the blitz that we don't know yet?

so, 1941. here they are, drunk and a bit giddy. pouring more wine, talking gibberish. it has been a crazy day and alcohol is the greatest stress reliever they desperately need at the moment. then, at some point, they start to reminisce the events of the day.

1. church. explosion. the books. "that was very kind of you". heart eyes. realisation of love?

aziraphale realised he was in love with crowley. that is one of the things that happened in 1941. and it's huge. and it shows! the way aziraphale looks at crowley, trusts him with his life, invites him in for a romantic candlelight dinner afterwards.

so why wouldn't we see the angel in love in the hypothetical part three of the blitz? that'd be logical.

2. the bullet catch trick. miracles blocked. crowley almost shooting aziraphale in the head. possible trauma?

for crowley (not to exclude aziraphale, of course, i doubt he was anticipating the moment the bullet would go through his head in case of failure), this whole magic show was torturous. it's in the way his hands are shaking when holding a gun. and, though funny, how he rapidly goes through the instructions in the book upon realising their miracles aren't working.

now we know why crowley despises aziraphale's "magician mode". god- satan- who knows what can happen if aziraphale tries to do magic again.

they don't address these things to each other, of course. because that's what they do: they never say what they're really thinking. but alcohol tends to loosen one's tongue. and, perhaps, that is another important thing that happens in 1941.

now, we know aziraphale had done the "i was wrong dance" several times throughout the history, including the year mentioned.

maybe crowley asked him to do that as a form of an apology after the absolute hell the angel made him go through. and even though, it wasn't aziraphale's fault entirely (nobody could've guessed the furfur's ambush), crowley did almost blew his brains out. and it didn't feel great. moreover, considering that they constantly quarrel, they seem to save the dance for more serious fights, if i may say so.

and after all that happened on the west end stage, crowley deserves a proper apology.

so, he says "do the dance" and is met with drunken protestations, but eventually aziraphale does it. his head spins, his whole body wobbles after several bottles of wine, but he manages to pull off the dance except for the very last move.

it doesn't look like a very steady position to me. not to mention, aziraphale is drunk and it makes it almost impossible for him to hold balance when standing at all. so when he trembles and trips, ready for his face to be smashed across the floor, crowley catches him and this is where "the big thing" happens (a bit cliché, i know).

now, some people believe they might've kissed before season 2 episode 6. i tend to disagree but i do believe in the almost-kiss. and i think something similar could happen in the blitz part 3 (in case we get it), if we remind ourselves that aziraphale had just realised he was in love with crowley.

even though the demon manages to save his angel (once again) from falling, he is just as drunk as aziraphale.

"you need to ssssober up, angel", crowley might say.

"so do you!" aziraphale might respond.

from what we've seen, crowley is not comfortable yet to take off his sunglasses in the bookshop in 1941. frankly, he never is until season 2.

but when he's drunk, he tosses them to the nearby sofa.

they exchange a few phrases, aziraphale's still holding onto crowley's arms, they're both barely standing. after a while, the room goes quiet so aziraphale just stares. lovingly. at crowley's eyes. the demon notices.

"wot?" he might ask.

and then...

"your eyes are so pretty" aziraphale might blurt out.

[it sounds very cheesy, i know. if i could write a fanfiction, i would, but my self criticism won't let me.]

vavoom! this is where something shifts. something changes. i imagine aziraphale leaning in for a kiss and crowley's having a mix of confusion and unknown longing on his face. but, obviously, life is no fairy-tale. something interrupts them (i haven't made up my mind on what exactly) and it ruins the moment. and it's very distracting, since they sober up almost immediately. and, to me, aziraphale would suddenly come to realisation that if they get closer, if he acts on his feelings once again, then it'd be taking a huge risk of them being caught collaborating together. so he pushes crowley away. and this is how we come to "you go too fast for me, crowley".

[thank you for reading my midnight thoughts if you got this far!]

[cdroloisms]

How about 4, 16, 29?

4. What's your favorite c!Dream scene?

Yeah I'm a filthy prison c!awesamdream lover so to literally no one's surprise I'm bringing up the post-Techno escape c!Sam and c!Dream stream in the prison. Look it's the literal only stream we ever got of the two of them in the prison with Sam as the Warden and Dream as the prisoner after they were teasing that shit for over half a year can you even blame me. It incited the worst round of c!Sam apologism known to man. I wrote a thread for six hours on twitter once going insane about it. It made cc!Sam all but expose Staged Finale in a QnA thread like the next day. Apparently they were gatekeeping secret prison warden roleplay the whole ass time and this like one 20 minute scene is all we ended up getting and it still bounces around my brain nonstop like a pinball. What more can you ask for

29. Which emotion do you think rules c!Dream the most?

Fear. By and large. He's so afraid that literally everything got twisted in on itself. Like, god.

L'manburg + the revolution starts w/ c!Dream reacting to c!Wilbur with a. Honestly. Pretty healthy level of apprehension for a guy literally threatening him and his home. This leads to the establishment of the mythos (with c!Dream-as-tyrant-monster-villain as one of its cornerstones) which leads to the slowly growing isolation from c!Dream towards his home and friends (stares directly at how c!Tommy described Exile and c!Dream saying he's scared to be alone. screams.) This is what gives us a c!Dream who has honestly had Quite A Damn Few changes of heart at the beginning of pogtopia pledging his allegiance to Wilbur after c!Schlatt quite evidently scares the shit out of him. Then Vassal happens, he's locked into Wilbur's narrative, he speedruns through ANOTHER bunch of changes of heart (and these two as a collective is what leads to his isolation by the time we get to november 16th onwards, such as when we get to dethronement and c!Quackity is commenting on how c!Dream doesn't have anyone, such as when we look at c!Wilbur confidently asserting that c!dream has nobody if not wilbur) and then the revive book deal just. Fucking shatters him.

He's scared of the supernatural that he doesn't understand and he's scared of the people that he DOES understand (and what he understands is simple: they want him six feet under) and he's grappling with the fact that the world is breaking around him and that he-is-the-villain-the-snake-pure-evil-and-he-has-always-been and every allyship he has is founded on transaction because what other leverage does he have if not what he can give and he puts himself in a fucking obsidian box because the world beyond it is too much of a threat to his life and the man he trusted to keep him safe hurts him and lets others hurt him in ways he couldn't have imagined. he's so fucking scared by the end of things that he can't leave the torture box that literally destroyed him.

c!Dream and it's not paranoia if They're Actually Out To Get You...put me down...god it's just fear all the way down All The Way Down and he was still trying to figure out how to Fix Death and Reset The World To Save It From Corruption because at the end of the day he was so damn scared of being alone. i frow up

[shih-coulda-had-it]

If I may ask what is the original context for afohiko? I am still making my way through the manga so I definitely may not have gotten to a pertinent part yet so I preemptively apologize if that is the case. Is it based on an interaction they have, or was it spurred more from you imagining how they would interact and enjoying the way their personalities fit together? Either way your content of it is very enjoyable and very interesting. :] I also like how expressive your art style is! I hope you are having a nice day.

Aw, thanks :DDD

tl;dr (but I’m not putting it under a read more because I’m feeling obnoxious): the original context for afohiko is that I want Prime Torino to be popular, and if I have to bait people onto my blog with hot AfO, then I’ll fucking do it. It’s still honest work!

//

Okay. So, for context, what you need to know first is that I am a strong promoter of Prime Torino. I love him, he’s hot and miserable and devoted to lost (well, debatable) causes. And I want other people to love him too, but this is a thankless task because Prime Torino is very notably a traumatizing jackass.

I still want people to love him. So I scheme, quite constantly, for ways to slot Prime Torino into AUs and ships.

Around two years ago, April 2021, @pocketramblr made a Google Poll for cursed ships. GranAfO got 1%. This is pretty unremarkable, except for the fact that I could refer to it a month later, and assign the genesis of All for One x Gran Torino onto her when some anon (possibly frustrated that I kept dodging Nana x AFO questions) asked me about it.

And at first I was like, ‘Oh, ew. AFO is a jackass.’ And then I started drawing it, and I ended up with one of those standard kabedon poses with Prime Torino against the wall. Which got me these kind of reactions:

What could I conclude? That by drawing an attractive All for One with Prime Torino, I could bait people into thinking twice about Prime Torino. (MY AGENDAAAA)

DfO Week was then announced; between my own afohiko art and the few asks Pocket fronted for an dfohiko thought experiment, I was inspired to start writing the first of many branches of dfohiko verse. I like to ground my fics with a bit of basis in canon, but you gotta understand--this is a crackship. I’m shooting blind here except for a few key references/facts:

1. Gran Torino survived the initial retreat with Toshinori in tow, even though AFO certainly must have seen them fleeing the scene. Sorahiko then survived the following decades AND Kamino Ward despite evidence of AFO’s insane scorched earth policies.

2. The Ultra Analysis book has this for a quick 101 of Gran Torino’s perspectives of a few characters:

For a character assigned as ‘nuisance’, AFO sure doesn’t bother swatting him into a hole six feet deep. And for name-calling AFO a ‘monster’ + having an infamous stance on killing to save, Sorahiko is incapable of dealing damage. (Undoubtedly because he knows he would get squashed like a bug. But I digress. This post is for reading too deep into the unspoken bits.)

3. Gran Torino in his fight with Kurogiri ends up saying, “If you’ve got a preference for a date, then I’ll go with you wherever you want.” (Crunchyroll subtitles, E78). This is obviously one of those one-off lines, and not even canon to manga, but I like referring back to it as an indicator of Gran Torino’s Bad Taste in Men.

All this to say… afohiko is hilarious to me, and I can draw/write them as hot disasters, in both ways oblivious to the red flags at the start and end of their relationships. Emphasis on hot. You think Prime Torino’s hot, right? Did I succeed in my agenda?

[neverwritewhatyouknow]

Let’s talk about backlash and response in the Red, White & Royal Blue literary and cinematic universe.

The book:

Casey changed two things in the book when there was backlash, and honestly the fact that they were so quick to respond to these and not anything else is kinda super upsetting.

The first was the Harry Potter books that Alex (and Henry too?) read, and like obviously JKR is a fucking bad person, but… The books exist! Millions of people read the books! Mentioning them by name isn’t gonna make you a bad person, having fictional people read these books doesn’t make them bad, it means they read books that existed. Trust me, I’m in the hating JKR trenches with everyone, she’s an antisemitic TERF, but of all the things in the world to be mad at, fictional characters reading a book isn’t it. Like, I have Harry Potter books on my shelf, am I supposed to burn them all and go back through my old instagram from middle school to delete all references to Hogwarts houses? No. Because multiple things can be true at once: JKR is a terrible person, and Harry Potter books at one point were highly read and enjoyed. Like, mentioning or not mentioning a book from over 20 years ago won’t impact JKR, if you want to stand up against her, stand up against her new video game and TV show— things that will directly put money in her pocket, stand up against Cursed Child if you want, donate to valued organizations that promote the things she hates. Anyway, It was changed to the Percy Jackson series instead, which is fine, but I think changing the books was an interesting choice. Like, obviously Casey doesn’t agree with the transphobic and disgusting views of JKR, neither do the characters. (CMQ probably does agree with some of the antisemitism, but that’s another story). Regardless of my own views on this change, people were upset by it and it was changed. Casey listened and made the fix. Editing to add: I’m totally cool with the change! Like I complete understand why it was done and if I were Casey I would have done the same thing. I, very badly, wanted to show how you can separate the author from the art, but I think there are some things that maybe can be judged by the author. I hope anyone I offended by misspeaking sees this and understands that I didn’t mean to reduce your pain. You are valid and correct in wanting the book removed from the book, especially when it was an easy fix. My point was solely that Casey listened and changed things, I shouldn’t have said anything else that undermined that or caused hurt, even indirectly. Again, sorry if my misspeaking hurt you, it was never my intention

The second time the book was edited, was after some people got weird about a reference to a UN ambassador: (copied from a Slate article because this isn’t in my copy) in which a supporting character who is the president of the United States complains, “Well, my UN ambassador fucked up his one job and said something idiotic about Israel, and now I have to call Netanyahu and personally apologize.”.

This is literally so nothing it’s insane. People claimed it justified the Israel/Palestine conflict and said that America would always back Israel, which like, I’m not going to explain the conflict because it’s bigger, older, and more complex than Tumblr, but no. No. No. No. Just no. This has nothing to do with that, Israel and America are Allies, and it’s no different than someone saying something about Canada. Also, nobody likes Netanyahu except Netanyahu, so this line is actually more of a funny satirical line about how the president has to go talk to this guy who’s an ally but super annoying. This is not an invite to send me anything about the I/P conflict, because I promise I know way more on this topic than you think and I’m not getting into it. Regardless, people said stuff, Casey listened, it was changed.

The movie:

After backlash about the actors ages, Casey posted a very attitude filled and almost-guilt trippy post saying that it’s rude and wrong to say that people who are 28 or 30 are old, because that’s calling Casey old, that’s saying that people who are older can’t discover their sexualities.

None of that was what people were saying, but they wanted to save themself, so they responded.

Backlash about the actors sexualities- Casey responded.

Preemptive response to people talking about Nick’s hair color- There was a response from multiple people

Response to people talking about Taylor being Mexican-American. This one was more of a “Hey! We did it!” Positive response by multiple people from the production, mainly the director who said that they purposely sought out the correct actor for Alex so people wouldn’t say anything bad and would be happy about it.

I’m sure there’s more, but I haven’t been in the know for a longggggg time.

All that to say, there’s been a ton of backlash about how Nora’s ethnicity was erased and how antisemitic their casting decision was, and the only thing they’ve done is block and remain silent. Not to forget that the production and CMQ know about the antisemitism within the RWRB fandom and they don’t give a shit.

Funny how things can be addressed when it’s literally about anything besides their Jew-erasure.

[rametarin]

If I could speak Japanese...

I'd pretty much apologize for the whirlwind of westerner fandom bullshit they're currently being subjected to. I saw a post recently of confused Japanese at some western nonsense, and they're right to be confused and outraged about it.

The Japanese social culture is nearly virgin waters for the sort of invasive, parasitic people that have hijacked it with absurd discourse. We in the west have dealt with their nonsense for a long, long time, and it has failed to translate over to them exactly the sort of sinister insanity we're dealing with. So it's kind of like having a family psychopath escape their containment and menace your foreign friend, who has no idea what is happening or what the problem is of that freak.

It's embarrassing, actually, and the worst would be if more Japanese started actually listening to their insanity and trying to conform to it instead of resisting it. Because I know what's going to happen. I can already see a few native Japanese trying to get with that program and start impressing it on their countrymen, the way they do over here.

When you don't know what's happening and why they're doing it or how they operate, it's easy to be blindsided by their insanity and go, "Is it everybody else, or just me?" Because these people currently bandwagoning on fandom are good at doing that. Making you question your own reality as they interact with this weird alternative version of it that isn't true, but they're demanding you conform to.

Such stupid bullshit as accusing Japanese artists of "whitewashing" Nessa of Pokemon and calling them white supremacists for not making her blacker. Erasing darker skinned Asians and going, "These characters are definitely black, so represent them as African people," and then making a fuss over people not doing what they want.

When I was a young man, things were different... In fact, for a brief while, they were so much worse. It was en vogue at the time and pop culture radical feminist discourse for female peers to hate "boys comic books" like cape comics and see them not just as immature and juvenile, but also hateful towards women for the skimpy outfits. Saying that western comics were boys fantasy (derogatory) and maintaining these beliefs about western society that were simply bigoted. That western society wasn't just majority white (Europe, the United States) but that it was inherently white supremacist and male chauvinist, and anything and everything that socially stemmed from that, in their eyes, was inescapably white supremacist and misogynist. Even benign things. Even something as simple as a comic book.

They said, "Comic books are an OLD BOYS CLUB that don't hire women writers or put women in charge of the business, they just exploit the image of women for profit and sell misogynistic characterization to reinforce anti-woman sentiments among boys." And they were wrong, of course. But the reality was, I couldn't even read She-Hulk around female peers my age between age 8 and 12, because it was enough to get angry lectures from them about how just reading the comic proved I was mentally immature (because they were too "polite" to use a term like retarded) and thought poorly of women.

They had been coached and tutored into believing such hideous things that made any western comic book into a toxic mess in their eyes, just seeing cigar smoking, woman hating, scotch drinking old white men in the business and just seeing every body reading comics as a miniature version of that.

We'd ask them what it would take for comic books to be okay, in their eyes. We were so much as told they'd only read stories written, drawn by and from companies owned by women. Because, they believed, women doing things inherently makes them better. And a man doing things inherently makes it oppressive and anti-woman.

And then an amazing thing happened.

Japanese media started hitting US shores. It was largely bootlegged and pirated with a few outlets from companies that were trying to stake their claim and establish themselves as distributors for Eastern products as comics and cartoons, but it was a secret fandom regardless. And among them, were Japanese standards and stories and subject matter, which hadn't been henpecked and nagged into the ground and buried under endless amount of discourse, the way the west had.

Radical Feminism tried to attack Japanese media getting popular in the west. And oh, it had a lot of material to find contemptuous, and then do a little bee-like dance to signal to the sycophantic radical feminist girl proteges why everything in Japanese cartoons was harmful to girls and women........ but.................

The girls didn't listen. They enjoyed the material too much for their programming by radical feminism to be heard.

Radical feminism tried to remind them how horrible the depictions were to images of femininity.

The girls argued back that these stories from Japan fit the criteria they looked for. 1.) MANY Mangaka were female sexed. 2.) Women are and have always been involved in the Japanese comics and cartoon industry. 3.) On top of all that, they were/are Japanese. You know, one of those "oppressed minority groups" in their ideological view. A person that isn't white, and is therefore someone oppressed by white people (and capitalism) internationally.

The last point in the late 80s/early 90s was incredibly important, as it was a value of theirs as progressives that white people were not allowed to criticize or judge non-western/white majority societies or hold them to the same standards of what was sexist or discriminatory towards women as the west did. Because it was popular for western feminists to have different standards. They'd go on a rant about how horrible western men and western society was to women, and then praise what would be blatant and brazenly, objectively patriarchal culture and standards overseas because the people there were not white and clearly it was not our place to judge them. They argued judging Asian, Middle Eastern or African cultures would be imperialistic and white supremacist, so it was kept off the table.

So, Japanese media existed in this magnificent bubble at the time, impervious to western radical feminism and their academic bubble where they tried to make it popular to fabricate how every industry they didn't have control of the public relations for was bigoted and prejudiced in some way, shape or form. It could be everything that western media was no longer allowed to be. The girls could be feminine to the point of neotonous caricature and female anime fans could consume it up like iridescent, candy coated drugs without feeling some sort of guilt for consuming, "white supremacist mind control" or whatever. We could enjoy things together again without being judged as callous woman hating barbarians. We could have fun again.

That's partially what made it so popular. It was immune to the scrutiny of western feminism and out of their hands to criticize without getting people to turn against it.

If you speak Japanese, you have my permission to translate this as best as you are able and share it. I am a westerner from the United States, and I don't trust translation programs to properly convey my meaning. Having to learn how to deal with these people and their conspiratorial bullshit from scratch is never an easy task, and someone unfamiliar with their shame and peer-manipulative tactics is liable to get hurt, if not by others, than themselves.

[nice-and-accurate-ramblings]

⚠️WARNING: GOOD OMENS 2 EPISODE 1&2 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!⚠️

I need to get my live reactions out because I am LOSING IT. Do not read beyond this point if you don’t want spoilers for the first two episodes!!!

I am going insane after the prime premiere so here are my insane ramblings externalized:

THE COLD OPEN IN EPISODE 1 KILLED ME IN MY SEAT INSTANTLY

THE NEBULA. ANGEL CROWLEY (whose name we don’t get, ofc, that made me laugh). HE WAS SO EXCITED AND AZIRAPHALE’S “I WOULD HATE TO SEE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE” AND THE W I N G.

The fjuckin. WING. I AM UNWELL. I AM GOING INSANE JUST THINKING ABOUT IT

AAAAAAAAAA

And then the title music played and I apologized to my friend that I dragged to the premiere for being Extremely Not Normal. And then told her it Would Get Worse.

GOOD OLD FASHIONED LOVER BOY, IM-

Maggie: Oh nooooo, we’re locked in the coffee shop together,,, what will we doooooo (every fanfic author in the room just got so many ideas.)

Hm. Lindsey, huh? Hmmmmm.

That’s uh. Not a normal amount of texts. That seems a bit Not Great. I’m watching you Lindsey. I haven’t seen you yet but I am watching

THE APOLOGY DANCE AHSHDJFJF!!! Stan Pines and Crowley have something in common apparently. Also. Aziraphale what do you mean you had to do it in 1941. what were those other times. Where did this come from. I need EXPLANATIONS.

There’s no way their two-halves-make-a-whole miracle is what set off alarms in heaven. Gabriel Absolutely Did Something.

There are too many flies in the book shop for this to NOT come back to Beelzebub somehow

Re: Beelzebub- why ask Crowley to keep them in the loop if Shax already asked him that? Are they just not communicating, or is this somehow connected to Beelzebub???

My heart fuckin stopped when Gabriel started singing Everyday.

Crowley. Crowley I need you to repeat that bit about Jane Austen. CROWLEY YOU CAN’T JUST DROP THAT, I-

Good to know that scene overlooking the ocean was in fact as emotionally intense as expected. aaaAAAAAA

Re: Job minisode- “I’m a demon. I lied.” Gives a whole new fuckin context to the “Would I lie to you” “You’re a demon” from season 1. AaaAAAA

Another one from that minisode: Aziraphale thinking that heaven could be convinced to not destroy the earth if they just understood properly in season 1… aziraphale being disgusted by human food and drinks until he was tempted to try it and understood… Mr Gaiman I am in your walls for this

Anthony J “You can’t kill kids” Crowley strikes again. And we still don’t get clarification on what kind of kids he meant, which is incredible honestly. Plus, the goats were adorable :)

How is the jukebox doing the same thing as the Bentley. Is this a “every record eventually turns into Everyday in the same way music left in a car too long turns into Best of Queen” or is this a Pointed Thing

Have I mentioned that I would die for Muriel? I would die for Muriel. It has been two episodes and I simply adore the low ranking sunshine angel.

They are so fucking married

“OUR CAR” “OUR BOOKSHOP” they are so fucking married. Crowley why are you sleeping in your car, pls it’s OUR bookshop 😭😭😭

Aziraphale took drivers tests before they were cool (aka mandatory) 🙄 come on Crowley keep up

Aziraphale driving the Bentley is something I didn’t know I needed and yET-

First the “naked man friend” comment and then a random guy stealing the seat across from Aziraphale in the pub… rip crowley

Gabriel with the Terry Pratchett paperback… Gabriel reading off the first line of Good Omens… wait the book exists in the world of the show- Aziraphale owns the book in the world of the show- what

Never thought “Archangels don’t know where babies come from” would be a plot point and yet. Here we are.

Pausing one more time to go absolutely feral over the ending of the Job minisode because that played my heartstrings like a FIDDLE. “I’m like you now” “I’m a fallen Angel” and “I’m not here to take you to hell, don’t think you’d like it”; “I’m on my own side” “Sounds lonely” and “I’m a demon. I lied.”; how heckin PRETTY THE WHOLE SCENE WAS

someone please send help because idk how I’m going to be normal after this.

Okay, scheduling this for a little after the episodes drop and spoiler tagging like crazy! SOON, THE REST!!!

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Pretty good answers :) spoiler alert: Mario wonder didn’t win lol

1: does the duo like to make gingerbread houses?

2: are they fans of the YouTube series Death Battle?

3: if they were in death battle; separately of course, who would you choose to go against them?

4: imagine this scenario: Kon-El is a fan of the hip-hop group insane clown posses, & decides to paint his, & when they were little, Chris’s & Jon’s faces like juggalos, what would be Clark’s & Lois’s reaction be?

5: between the duo, who’s the better gamer? Or are they both equally good?

6: if the answer above is equally: the duo play five rounds of any fighting game, the loser gets stinkfaced by the winner, or since they both “dislike” gross out humor, I say Jon or Kon does it instead.

7: not a question but new powers for the duo:

Chris: I saw a ghost au from you earlier & think that’s pretty cool; he’s able to become intangible by sending his real body like kamui from naruto. He also has a transformation Similar to Naruto’s nine-tails charka mode, but blue.

Jake: At full power, he creates a massive tamaran warrior made of out starbolt energy that surrounds his body like how Superman did a few action comics books ago

Oh…ah well at least it was a nominee which is what truly matter lol @gothicghost2000

But anywho, onto our main program….

1) Oh yes they will but each with unique twists to them. Chris for instance based his on the Fortress of Solitude while Jake makes a gingerbread Titans Tower. And they’re big ones too, easily covering about half the dinner table in terms of how big they are. They thankfully take pictures of them before they gobbled up entirely by the end of the week.

2) I say the Duo will be fans of that show ever since way back when it used to be under the Screwattack under website. Their favorite matches from have been Guts (from Berserk) vs Nightmare (from Soul Caliber), The MegaMan Battle Royale, and Mario vs Sonic II.

3) Hmmm…..

Nightwing Phantom (Chris Kent) vs Son Gohan (Cell Games Saga, Dragon Ball)

Three Way Match: Skybird (Jake Grayson) vs Sarutobi Konohamaru (Shippuden Era, Naruto) vs Dai (Post Second Battle with Baran, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai)

4) Lois would be rather intrigued and genuinely curious about this trend going on. A tad bit of concern once the boys are into it but not on the same level as Clark is.

Speaking of whom and putting it a bit mildly, he’d be very concerned. He’d use his super speed to quickly wash that paint off the boys’ faces and then fly over as Superman to ICP’s place for some questioning. Don’t worry he doesn’t use the red eyes as he’s not entirely there to intimidate them. But that doesn’t mean he’s not exactly in the best mood when asking.

5) Chris and Jake are just about equal in their gaming prowess on many fields and types. The only game genre that Jake beats Chris in will City Building simulators including but not limited Tropico, Surviving Mars and Cities Skylines. In turn, Chris usually tops out between them when it comes to JRPGs as evidence by the fact while Jake had so far made it halfway into his play through of Dragon Quest 9, Chris had already beaten it three times over.

6) Well and I dearly have to apologize to you friend but there’s no way any of them are doing Rikishi’s finisher as the loser’s prize for losing some video games. For me I see more likely that if the Duo were streaming on their Twitch channel like say a Five Round Match on say Mortal Kombat (Each Round has Three Matches, best out of three), it’s more the case that the loser will instead serve the winner a parfait both in the stream itself and for the next few days of the week.

7) Now having Chris create an aura shaped like that Nightwing entity itself with him at the center of it is such an amazing visual to put into comic book artwork, let alone maybe even a full animated series. A display of dark blue, black and sapphire that can potentially be on par with the awe inspiring visuals of a Super Saiyan transformation

As for Jake’s Starbolt construct that surrounds him, I say for bonus points, his eyes can be glowing very tightly (Either Blue or Green or even, pink, depending on how you views his Starbolt colors) to further to the fact he’s no longer playing around. I like it. I like it A Lot XD

[animentality]

Hi! I read your book and I enjoyed it thoroughly and I can't wait for the next installment cause I'm curious where you're going to take things and also your way of writing is very unique and I'd love to experience it again!

Also "Happy moments with unhappy people" lives rent free in my head now thank you

Also the way you wrote the flashbacks made it my favorite part of the book and I ended up looking forward to the next one about halfway through and I'm obsessed with Rey specifically like I know he literally says he only has the fact that he's hot going for him but hot enough to get THAT many people utterly obsessed with him? I need to have words with him his game is INSANE

Also also also I found your style a little weird AT FIRST, but then once I got used to it the flow was perfect and I got literally possessed by the book until I finished it and the flashback with Anaheim hit me like a goddamn freight train

Like Rey is this little sunshine outwardly but sombre and mature in his relationships and that was already a gut punch but then Anaheim happened and everything just suddenly clicked. Like Rey became so human to me that now I every time I think about him I get a pit in my stomach (/extremely positive)

I am a little insane for your book thank you so much for writing it and I'll be re-reading it very soon and I hope I get absolutely destroyed the second time through <3

(I think Rey's charms were so powerful even through a phone screen he's making me read the book again <3)

(Also genuinely last note I'm sorry I'm unwell for your book but the world/city had impeccable vibes and I felt a longing after I finished reading, like I wanted to be in the world a little longer and I cannot think of a higher compliment for your worldbuilding)

I love your book <3!!!

;-;

Never apologize for feeling unwell for my book, I am grinning irl like a madman after reading this ask.

This is the best ask I've ever gotten for 7 deadly habits, congrats.

This is what I write for. Asks like these...you're too kind.

I'm so glad you liked it.

I'm so glad you understand Rey so well.

I'm so glad you came around to my weirder writing style. I know it's a bit of an adjustment for most people, but I'm glad you found its rhythm and now you get it.

Totally would've been ok if you didn't though, because I know it's a lot.

But ahhhhhh.

Your love for Rey...you get him!

He really is vivacious and lively and charming...except when he's not.

That little pun about how he's a ray of sunshine...and it's true. However.

It's also just a front.

The greater depth of his character comes from pain.

He is someone who has hurt a lot of people and been hurt badly.

And bravely carrying on...well, is it brave, if he simply can't face the truth?

If he has to hold it inside and keep himself together with cracked armor, this thing veneer of the person he used to be, back before he you know. Spoilered.

I'm so glad you appreciated him.

Some people don't get him.

But you've understood the assignment!!

And I just love flashbacks. They're my weakness and they're absolutely overindulgent but I can't help it. I love them too much.

I'm so glad you understood them. You liked them.

I always try to make them as evocative and lonely and somber and sometimes, rarely, too good to be true.

Memory is like that, you know. You remember things better than they were.

You have to, in order to survive...

Anyway, I'm gonna print out this ask and frame it.

You did it. You got me ready to tackle 7 deadly habits 2 again.

I'm ready to finish editing it and have it out by August.

I'm going to, goddamnit. Even if it's just for one person in the entire world...it's worth it.

Thank you so much for this ask ;-;

7 deadly habits means the world to me and then this ask hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer.

The asks that keep me writing novels...in the dark times, when I feel like I'm writing for no one...

Thank you for taking time out of your day to write this. I'll think about this ask for years.

[station-aspenville]

Chapter 3.

I haven’t heard from Alistair for the past week. Despite that, I still have been checking the radio everyday since the last broadcast, in hopes of hearing his voice. I did so partly out of boredom, and partly because I’ve begun to worry about his well being. It wasn’t my conscious attempt at caring about him; after all, he’s nothing more than some kid I've never even seen in my whole life. Yet, the warm “Hello, Aspenville!”, I heard this evening, came as a relief.

- I feel like I owe you an apology for my absence. - said the boy on the other side of the radio - The past week didn’t offer us any new information worth sharing with you, therefore I saw no point in even starting an audition. If I’m being honest, I began to question the very point of what I’m doing.

Alistair seems to still take himself way too seriously. This poor boy is too blinded by his own hopes and delusions to see that what he’s doing is nothing more than playing a game. He seems to believe that the faith of Aspenville lies in his hands. Do you really think you can save the world, Alistair?

Or perhaps I’m actually the one in the wrong…

- Luckily - the boy continued - I’m not coming to you empty handed today. What I managed to accomplish, in the past couple of days, may not be a lot, and I can’t blame you if you find it rather underwhelming, but I’m proud to say that it surely gives us hope for the future. Let me tell you about everything that happened lately:

I’ve spent the past week searching for answers. Day and night, I’ve been focused on one thing and one thing only - the truth. It wasn’t an easy search. I managed to find my dad’s phone book, containing the full list of numbers belonging to his former researchers. I have to admit, looking through my dad’s belongings after the late events wasn’t a pleasant experience. I try not to think about my parents. Looking back and getting stuck in the past would bring no good to my research, in fact, it would slow it down. After all, I’ve been told multiple times to always value reason over emotions.

I made multiple calls over the past week. Both to the research centre and the individual researchers themselves. It didn't take me too much time to realize that contacting the right people isn’t nearly as difficult as getting them to actually hear me out. Most of them dismissed my calls right away, the few who didn’t thought I’m crazy and hung up after realizing that they’re talking to a 17 year old. Perhaps I was crazy. Perhaps I still am. Perhaps me trying to find a way out of our current situation is actually a sign of pure insanity. None of that mattered to me. As long as I can help someone with my actions, I couldn’t care less. 

Being viewed as a particularly immature teenager, who has too much time on his hands, by the very people who I considered to be my only hope wasn’t helpful. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I smiled purely for the sake of not raising concerns, and for that matter, I couldn’t even cry. Just laugh; laugh at the absurdity of this all. The world is absurd, the calamity (the public named it that, I never liked this term) and for all of it, my research is absurd. I questioned everything. I doubted myself. I became paranoid and then so very tired. And then a miracle happened. When I reached my lowest, I found what I was searching for. I finally found the truth - a young researcher by the name of Virgil Montgomery.

- I would love to eventually get Dr. Montgomery to talk with me on this program, however, from what I’ve noticed, he’s a rather shy person, and I don’t want to put pressure on him - Alistair continued - For now, I’m going to share with you the details of our research via radio, and we’ll see what future brings us.

He sounded ecstatic, I could just imagine how much all of this meant to him. After all, despite all the difficulties he had encountered, he managed to find someone just as passionate as him. Or perhaps just as insane. I’ve begun to question whether his research was actually child’s play, as I initially thought.

- Oh listeners - the enthusiastic voice spoke again - you have no idea how wonderful it feels! To finally have someone listen to what you have to say… I used to believe that credibility isn’t for me. Not right now, at least. I used to think that you gain a voice once you enter adulthood. Before that you can listen to what the elders have to say and obey them quietly. You may question what they say, but you’ll never be able to voice your concerns. It’s just like trying to scream under the water - no one can hear you. Since drowning is silent, without a solid voice to take a lead, this entire town is doomed to go down, and then - maybe the entire world. If Virgil Montgomery is the brain willing to help humanity overcome this crisis, I want to be the voice giving him a means to do so. As far as I know, he also knows how terrible it feels to be looked down on and ignored because of age or an uncommon approach to the problem. Well, it’s all in the past now. Isn’t it beautiful how both of us can help each other in helping the world?

I understood where Alistair’s excitement came from. Having an authority figure listen to what you have to say may feel like a blessing at his age. However something about all of this felt rather bittersweet.

Prioritizing his research, no matter how important wouldn’t it be to him, over his own emotional well being is something I can never consider admirable. Avoiding what brings him anguish, instead of trying to cope with it, seems like a rather foolish choice, one that might end in tragedy at that.

- I can’t say that I agree with every idea proposed by Dr. Montgomery - Alistair continued - in fact, we tend to disagree on quite a lot of matters. For example, Dr. Montgomery is very much in favour of the sunflowers theory, the one claiming that Strangers tend to be drawn to sunflowers, which I’m very much against. He claims that based on our current research this is the most logical explanation, however something about it just doesn’t sit right with me. I can’t even say why, it just feels terribly wrong…

Alistair seemed to get rather upset whenever the topic of sunflowers was brought up. It wasn’t difficult to understand why. With how much meaning those flowers held in his life, it was reasonable for him to get upset whenever his view of them as a symbol of joy and childlike hope was challenged. If he wants to actually contribute to finding a scientific explanation of the current situation, he would eventually have to let go of this nostalgia. I think it’s clear to see that Alistair tries to approach every problem with sheer cold logic, the same way as the people he admired growing up did, however he tends to get lost in his emotions while doing so. There’s nothing shameful about being a sensitive person, yet in his position this dissonance should be considered a fatal character flaw.

- During our last talk Dr. Montgomery mentioned working on some big theory, something that might possibly entirely change our perception of this situation. I don’t know about you, listeners, but I’m very excited to hear what he had been up to. I’ll make sure to keep you updated with every new information I receive. Both of us share the belief that in order for this program to be a trustworthy source of information we can’t hide anything from its audience, therefore I’m going to be absolutely transparent about our research. 

I’ve noticed the sun beginning to set, and at that moment it occurred to me that I don’t actually want the broadcast to end. I missed Alistair’s voice and I didn’t want to wait another week to hear from him again; especially considering that the news he’ll have to deliver likely won’t be of pleasant nature.

- On a different note, I decided to work on making the radio station’s atmosphere more welcoming, since it doesn’t seem like we’ll be leaving it anytime soon. The small garden in the building’s backyard looks nothing like the one from my childhood; aside from a few sunflowers here and there - which as you already know are nothing uncommon around this area - it feels rather empty and neglected. I want to change it. Not only would it help to make this place feel more like home to both Neil and myself, gardening would aid me to occasionally focus on something else than our current situation. Who knows, perhaps I’ll even be able to harvest some fruit and vegetables as a food supply. This morning I found a package of narcissus seeds while looking around the station building. Since it’s early November, they most likely wouldn’t bloom if I planted them now, but I’ll make sure to do so as soon as their season starts. I was never a huge fan of those flowers, however now I think I’m beginning to like them.

Hearing Alistair get excited about flowers right after discussing his research on beings possibly serving as a threat to humanity, felt oddly innocent; almost in an unsettling way.

- Anyway - he went on - I feel like I’ve begun to ramble again. Goodnight, listeners, hopefully we’ll get to hear from each other again soon enough!

Sleep well, Alistair.